Why replatforming is a different project than a new store build

Replatforming an established ecommerce store carries risks a new build doesn’t: protecting years of customer data, product information, SEO equity, integrations, order history, and existing revenue.

One broken redirect can affect organic rankings. One untested ERP integration can disrupt fulfilment. A poorly handled migration can even impact loyalty programs and customer accounts. With large enterprise migrations potentially exceeding $500,000 and mid-sized Shopify Plus replatforms in Australia often running 150,000–300,000, the development partner you choose is a major business decision not just a technical one.

This list covers Australian agencies with proven Shopify Plus development, migration, UX, integration, and performance-optimisation experience, including publicly available case-study results where agencies have published measurable outcomes.

At a glance: how the 8 agencies compare

1. Magneto IT Solutions – Sydney, Australia

Magneto IT Solutions is a Sydney-based eCommerce development company that pairs Shopify development and migration with ecommerce strategy, SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation, and Generative Engine Optimisation – making it a distinctive choice for brands that want their new Shopify store built to perform in both traditional search and AI-driven discovery (AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity).

Magneto is currently listed in Shopify’s Partner Directory as a Service partner. Businesses whose primary requirement is the largest possible enterprise migration track record may also want to compare the Plus/Premier-tier agencies further down this list. But for businesses that want the migration itself paired with a strategic focus on organic and AI-driven discovery from day one, Magneto’s combined ecommerce-and-search specialisation is difficult to match on this list.

2. Prosper Digital – South Yarra, Melbourne

Prosper Digital has been a Shopify Premier Partner since 2017, focusing on Shopify development, UX, conversion rate optimisation, and ecommerce growth. Its portfolio includes Nike, Mattel, and Samsung, including a notable Nike Australia migration to Shopify Plus that supported click-and-collect, in-store appointment booking, and customised order-processing workflows. Prosper takes a deliberately selective client roster to focus deeply on individual projects.

3. DotCollective – South Yarra, Melbourne

DotCollective reports $1.4 billion in total client GMV across an eight-year Shopify partnership, average year-over-year client revenue growth of 45%, and an average 32% reduction in bounce rate. Its Purebaby project a migration off a legacy Magento environment reportedly achieved 600% revenue growth within three years. DotCollective states it has migrated more than 100 brands to Shopify since 2018.

4. Soul+Wolf – South Melbourne, Australia

Soul+Wolf is a Shopify Plus Partner known for design-led ecommerce experiences for fashion, lifestyle, and home brands. Its migration for homewares retailer Abode Living reportedly resulted in a 25% increase in average order value, a reminder that a migration can double as an opportunity to fix UX, merchandising, and conversion issues, not just move data.

5. 23 Digital – Melbourne, Australia

23 Digital specialises in Magento-to-Shopify migrations with a strong emphasis on preserving organic search performance. Its Ozwashroom migration reportedly generated a 3.7x increase in organic search traffic and a 220% increase in sales while cutting site management overhead by more than half. It has also migrated SavvySupporter.com.au from Magento to Shopify Plus.

6. Alinga – Australia

Founded in 2009, Alinga is a Shopify Premier Partner working across mobile-first design, scalable ecommerce architecture, performance optimisation, ERP integrations, B2B commerce, and enterprise migrations a fit for mid-to-large organisations with complex business processes.

7. The Hope Factory – Australia-wide

The Hope Factory is a Shopify Premier Partner specialising in replatforming from Magento, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and custom platforms, with a migration approach covering product data, order history, customer accounts, URL redirects, and SEO preservation.

8. Swanky – Australia, with international offices

Swanky supports brands moving to Shopify Plus from legacy platforms, with offices across Australia, the UK, and France useful for brands planning a multi-market, multi-currency, multi-domain expansion alongside their replatform.

What to look for in a Shopify Plus replatforming partner

1. Measurable case studies

The strongest agencies can show what changed after a migration: organic traffic growth, revenue growth, conversion rate improvements, average order value, site-speed improvements, reduced operational costs, and improved customer experience. A case study with numbers beats a generic claim about “hundreds of projects.”

2. Verified Shopify Partner status

Shopify’s Partner Directory is the best place to verify an agency’s current partner tier – tiers change, so don’t rely solely on an agency’s website. More importantly, check the agency’s experience with projects similar to yours; the tier alone doesn’t confirm fit for your specific migration scenario.

3. SEO and AI-visibility planning from day one

SEO shouldn’t be a pre-launch checklist item. Before migration, the agency should audit your existing URL structure, organic traffic, rankings, backlinks, indexed pages, metadata, and internal linking and increasingly, how your content is being surfaced (or missed) in AI-generated answers. A detailed redirect strategy and pre-launch audit protects visibility you’ve spent years building.Notes for publishing (not part of the article)

• Add ItemList schema for the 8 agencies and FAQPage schema for the FAQ block – both improve AI Overview / rich-result extractability.
• Internal-link “Shopify migration,” “ecommerce SEO,” and “Generative Engine Optimisation” mentions the relevant Magento service pages.
• Replace the two # CTA links with the actual Magento/consultation booking URL.
• Consider a short author/reviewer byline with credentials – supports E-E-A-T signals for AI Overview sourcing.
• All competitor facts are carried over unedited from the source article (no new claims added); only Magneto’s section and structural elements were rewritten.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Shopify Plus replatform cost in Australia? Mid-sized Shopify Plus replatforms in Australia typically run 150,000–300,000, while large enterprise migrations can exceed $500,000, depending on integration complexity, data volume, and customisation.

What’s the difference between a Shopify Plus Partner and a Service Partner? Shopify Partner tiers (Service, Plus, Premier, Platinum) reflect Shopify’s own classification based on factors like merchant volume and certifications. Tier is one input for evaluating a partner — project experience with migrations similar to yours matters just as much.

What causes SEO loss during an ecommerce migration? The most common causes are broken or missing redirects, changed URL structures, lost metadata, disrupted internal linking, and pages that aren’t re-indexed correctly after launch. A pre-launch SEO audit and redirect map are the main safeguards.

What three questions should I ask before signing with a replatforming agency? Ask each shortlisted agency to show you a project similar to yours, show you the measurable result, and show you how they protected what was already working (SEO, integrations, customer accounts).